Messiah of Time
by Lithos Maitreya
Summary: Firestar and Scourge. Two names that already will go down in the Clans' history. This is the story of their names became known by beings all over the Multiverse. Herein lie the tales of the battles between the Messiah of Time and the Son of Darkness.


**A/N: Welcome, one and all, to the long-awaited beginning of Messiah of Time. Now this is not really a sequel to the first book of the Team Soul Trilogy. It takes place just afterward, but all you need to know of the prequel is that Star, a very old and wise Pokemon (Charizard to be precise) explained to Firestar a bit of complex mythology, which I will explain here. You see, there are apparently an order of God-like beings in the multiverse (or 'multiple universes') called the Avatars. Two of these, Yahalom (the Diamond, Avatar of Time) and Shoham (the Onyx, Avatar of Darkness) once had children though the tomcat Jake. First, Shoham had a child with the she-cat Quince. Only one of that litter was chosen as his heir, the Son of Darkness. That was Scourge. Then, Jake later had another mate, this one a she-cat named Crystal (OC who will never appear, 'cause she's dead now). With her, and through Jake, Yahalom had a son as well, and again out of the litter, only one was chosen. This was Firestar, who is destined to be the Messiah of Time. The Pokemon soon left the Clans' world, and you don't need to worry about them anymore, at least for this story. Other notes from the previous story include: The children of the Avatars are called Lower Avatars. Jayfeather was told by Rock of this Mythology, and also that Scourge is seeking his destined weapon (think Link and Master Sword), the Onyx Mace. Rock told Jayfeather to tell Firestar to seek out the Diamond Rapier when it's clear that the time is right. I'll add more notes as I remember them.**

**Disclaimer: I only posting this once. I own no canon characters.**

**Messiah of Time**

**Or,**

**The Diamond's Trials**

_**1**_

_Contact_

It was night. The six Pokemon had just left the world earlier that day. I lay in my den – tired, but not enough to sleep. Not with so many thoughts buzzing around in my head. I remembered Star's words to me after Darkrai fled.

"…_Your father was not a cat."_

_I stared at him uncomprehendingly. He sighed, and elaborated. "Jake was not your father. It was not he who caused your birth. A spirit came and gave Crystal a child magically. This was the spirit of Yahalom, the Diamond, the Avatar of Time. You are his son. That's why, when Dusknoir stopped Time, you began to die, just as if you had no air. That's why Primal Dialga was afraid of you. You're his Master's son, and you have some of your father's power. A famous prophet of Pokemon, Charizard the Avenger, predicted your arrival. He called you the 'Messiah of Time'. That's what you are. The son of the Diamond. The Messiah of Time."_

What did it mean? And then he'd said more:

"_But there's more to the history," he said. "Before Crystal, Jake was the mate of a she-cat named Quince. But he was always susceptible to having the Avatars work through him. This time, it was Shoham, the Onyx, Lord of Darkness, who acted through him. He then fathered her child, who was destined to be the Son of Darkness, and your mortal foe. He is to you what Darkrai is to me. You've met him before."_

"_Who is it?" I asked him softly, tense with anticipation. Whatever Star said next, I knew, would shape my future._

_Star stared at me. "Scourge."_

Scourge was alive. Of that I now had no doubt. Star was honest, that much was clear. But what was I to do?

Star said Jayfeather would tell me when the time was right. But when would that be?

Sandstorm, lying beside me, leaned over and licked my ear gently. "Come on, Firestar," she meowed. "Go to sleep. Staying up for hours won't help anything."

She didn't know what troubled me, but her advice was valid nonetheless. "All right," I sighed, and, nuzzling into her, I let my thoughts drift away.

Life was lonely as a leader. It was lonelier still as a Lower Avatar. But it was less so with Sandstorm beside me.

LB

The darkness of night ebbed. Morning dawned. And with the sunrise my eyes opened.

Already preparing the patrols for the day, I stepped out of the den, leaving Sandstorm to rest. Brambleclaw was waiting outside. "Firestar," he said, greeting me. "Back to the normal schedule today, I suppose?"

"Yes. The Pokemon are gone, and though we'll never forget them, it's time to get back to work." I said. "Now for dawn patrol, I was thinking Thornclaw as leader. You agree?"

Brambleclaw thought for a moment, and then said, "Yes, I think so."

"All right." I said. "For dusk patrol, I want Lionblaze as leader with Dovepaw. Anything wrong with that?"

"No," he said.

"Good," I meowed. "I'm going for a walk. I need to think."

Before I left, he called me back. "Firestar."

"Yes?" I turned back to face him

He hesitated, looking awkward. "I saw Star say something to you yesterday. I have a feeling that's what you're thinking about. I just… want you to know that all of us in the Clan are here to help you if you need something."

"I know," I meowed, whiskers twitching in the equivalent of a smile. "But I don't need help. Not yet, anyway. Thanks anyway."

He nodded and left to assign dawn patrol.

Alone, I padded out of camp. It was barely getting light, so the forests were quite empty apart from me and the many small animals all around. I'd never look at the other creatures of the world the same way again, now I'd met Pokemon. Who was I to say that other creatures might not think? Mice clearly didn't, but twolegs, slow-moving and clumsy though they were, had always seemed to have a strange purpose to them. A purpose like a cat's.

I stopped walking suddenly. Something didn't feel right. Abruptly I realized what it was. I couldn't hear anything. The familiar sounds of birds in the trees was suddenly silent as death. What was going on?

Without warning a new noise started. A strange, hissing laughter emanated from the deep shadows all around me. I cursed myself for taking a walk while it was still mostly dark, and then wondered why I had.

_Firestar,_ The voice around me hissed. _I am coming, brother. I am coming…_

I knew that voice. "Scourge," I hissed. "What are you doing here?"

He laughed again, that cruel sound, almost a death-rattle, and spoke once more. _Do you think that you even stand a chance against me? I am coming, Time-brother. The power of my father has filled me. I bear my weapon. You, however, don't even know what to look for. This can only end one way._

"Shut up," said a voice from behind me. _Jayfeather!_

Scourge hissed once, and then his presence was gone. I turned, and there was my Clan's medicine cat, glaring around at the shadows.

"How did you –" I began.

"Send him away?" Jayfeather finished for me. "I'm one of the Three, Firestar. I guessed, and rightly, it seems, that that was enough to banish him for now. You could probably do the same, once you learn. I already know a bit about my powers. I can use them. Incidentally," he added You might want to stay in camp while it's dark. That's when he's strongest, I expect. He's the Son of Darkness, after all. Let's head back to camp.

We did. Lionblaze was watching for us at the thorn barrier. "Good, you're okay," He said to me. Then turning to his brother, he asked, "Are you going to explain now?"

"In a minute," said Jayfeather. "What did he say, Firestar?"

"He said he was coming and… something about having his father's power and a weapon," I told the medicine cat.

Jayfeather was silent for a moment, thinking, and then he said, "All right. Thanks. I'll tell you more later. Come on, Lionblaze. I'll explain now.

The two of them padded off and I was left to my thoughts. Jayfeather clearly didn't think it was time to tell me, and I trusted his judgment, but still… I didn't like this…

**A/N: Read and Review, please. If you were unsatisfied with the time spent on this story, Firestar will reimburse you. Or maybe not. He's a canon character, so I don't own him. Anyway, thank you for you time.**


End file.
